page_title: Titchwell Marsh
section_title: Recreation
hierarchical_section_title: Titchwell Marsh / Recreation
caption_attribution_description: English: Dune edge on the Norfolk coast. Birdwatchers at the Titchwell bird reserve, Norfolk.
context_page_description: Titchwell Marsh is an English nature reserve owned and managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Located on the north coast of the county of Norfolk, between the villages of Titchwell and Thornham, about 8 km east of the seaside resort of Hunstanton, its 171 hectares include reed beds, saltmarshes, a freshwater lagoon and sandy beach, with a small woodland area near the car park. This internationally important reserve is part of the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is also protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area and Ramsar listings.
  The reserve is important for some scarce breeding birds, such as pied avocets on the islands, and western marsh harriers, Eurasian bitterns and bearded reedlings in the reeds. To encourage bitterns to breed, the reed beds have been improved to make them wetter, and the lagoon has been stocked with the common rudd. Typical wetland birds such as the water rail, reed warbler and sedge warbler also appear, and little egrets are common. The reserve has regularly attracted rarities, as its location is important for migrating birds.
context_section_description: As the RSPB's busiest reserve, Titchwell Marsh has a significant economic impact on its locality. A 2002 survey reported that an estimated 137,700 visitors spent £1.8 million locally in 1998. The tiny village of Titchwell has two three-star hotels and a shop selling telescopes and binoculars, although it does not have a general store or a public house.
  A 2005 survey at Titchwell and five other North Norfolk coastal sites found that 39 per cent of visitors gave birdwatching as the main purpose of their visit. The 7.7 million day visitors and 5.5 million who made overnight stays in the area in 1999 are estimated to have spent £122 million, and created the equivalent of 2,325 full-time jobs.
caption: Birdwatching visitors help to support the local economy.
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